AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If he wanted to use her to unite him with allies, he did a piss poor job,” I say. “I am no ally of the Furinos.”
Cole shrugs. “My guess is he thought she would be a better spy than she is.”
I lower my gun, trying to decide what to do with Cole. He is a rat. He teamed up with the Furinos to attack my family, and then turned on them in an instant. He is only out for his own gain, but I don’t have a solid reason to kill him. Aside from wounding the Irish infrastructure, his death would be pointless. Plus, he is chatty enough that he might be of further use. I could have Gabriel and some of the other soldiers hold him somewhere until I’m certain we have all the information out of him we need. Taking prisoners go against my code, but hearing that Eve has actually been loyal to me this entire time is putting me in a merciful mood.
“But hey,” Cole says, sitting up and smirking at me like we are old friends, despite the fact I just shot him in the leg. “At least you got a little use out of her before it fell apart. Her father hands her out like a prostitute, but I didn’t even get to fuck her. Shame, too, because she is hot.”
He is still talking when I shoot him in the head. He falls sideways, mouth open like he simply paused in the middle of a sentence.
* * *
Ihide the guns we took from the Irish in the basement of a Volkov-owned bar called The Trap Door. We’ll strip them and sell them later. After all the shit they pulled, it is the least the Irish can do.
I’m just walking out the front doors and back towards my car when my phone vibrates. I expect it to be my father asking how the mission went, but when I grab my phone, I freeze. It is Eve.
I never gave her my number, but I had hers. This is the first time I’ve seen her name appear on my screen, and I wonder what it could be about. I planned to talk to her tonight. I should have trusted her. I should have listened to her when she told me the truth about her relationship with Cole and her father. For the first time in my life, I’m willing to fall on my knees and apologize. I’ll beg for her forgiveness if necessary.
“Hello?” My voice is strained and desperate, and I quickly clear my throat. I’m willing to beg, but that doesn’t mean I should start off the conversation on my knees. She doesn’t need to know how ready I am to see her.
“Hello.” The distinctly male voice on the other end of the line roots me to the spot. My hand clenches around the phone tightly enough I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter.
“Who is this?”
“Give up the guns you just stole from the Irish, and you can have Eve back.”
“Who is this?” I roar into the phone.
“Give up the guns you stole from the Irish,” the voice repeats. There is a slight amendment to the second half of the statement, though. “And we won’t hurt your wife and child.”
My blood goes cold. I want to scream into the phone and make every threat in the book. But the line goes dead before I can wrap my head around what the man just said.
Wifeand child. Eve is pregnant. Eve is pregnant with my baby and someone has her.
I walk towards my car and then turn and pace towards the bar. I feel like an animal trapped in a cage, desperate for a way out. My emotions are too big to fit in my skin, and I fist my hands at my side and roar up at the sky.
I should have gone after her. I knew her apartment wasn’t safe, and I should have held her against her well. Even if I had to chain her up. I should have done it until I knew for certain she would be safe. And now, who the fuck knows where she is. Who she is with. What is happening to her.
I run angry fingers through my hair, pulling out chunks of it, but I don’t care. I need to find her. I need to get her back. I call her number back over and over again, but no one answers. All I hear is her soft voice on the answering machine, telling me to leave a message. And it is that voice that eventually brings me back to reality. Her voice helps me make sense of what is rioting inside my chest.
Love.
I love Eve.
I didn’t think I was capable of it. Two months ago, I would have laughed in the face of anyone who told me it was possible, but here I am, pacing in the parking lot of a bar, loving Eve Furino. Or, actually, Eve Volkov. My wife.
I tuck my phone into my back pocket and march back into the bar. I walk past the bartender and the soldiers and go straight for the basement door. I need to be alone, and I need to figure out what to do next.
I have to save the woman I love.
25
Eve
My throat is dry from screaming, and my arms are raw from fighting against the restraints around my wrists. I can hear muffled voices and people moving around me, but I haven’t been able to see anything since a black bag was thrown over my head in the parking lot.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps moving towards me, growing closer and closer. I sit up in the metal chair I’ve been strapped to, my heart lodged in my throat. I let out a yelp when rough hands pull the bag from over my eyes.
I blink against the brightness, trying to let my eyes adjust. Slowly, I can make out a shadowy figure in front of me and movement beyond them. There are multiple people in the room with me. The man closest to me laughs.
